Process of treating oil



Aug- 23, 1932- R. c. OSTERS'TRMETAL 1,873,783

y PROCESS F TREATING QIL Filed April 17, 1928 TREATED Fu el.

fron/ac FIG.

Kamm J-rlu.

FIG. 2

Ru new C. Osess'mom Rosen-r T. TucKesz anonima! Umnerreo FueL ,f1-omas:

' Patented Aug. 23, 1932 UNir-D srrss Parar erica CORPORATION 0F OHIO Application vle April 17,

This invention relates to an improved method of treating relatively low boiling. hydrocarbons to render the same suitable for use particularly as motor fuels by removing from such compounds constituents which tend to discolor the same and also any gums which may be present and which would render the final product undesirable as motor fuel.

Among the methods now in usef for treating gasoline, naphthas, synthetic motor fuels and other low boiling point hydrocarbons, the following are most generally employed: v y

' The gasoline or other low boiling point hydrocarbon is treated with sulfuric acid, either continually by mixing the' liquids with air, mechanical stirrers or both, or in batch agitators. The acid sludge from this mixture is allowed to settle, is drawn olf and the acid treated gasoline is washed with water and the washed gasoline neutralized with caustic or other neutralizing agents. The gasoline, or other low boiling point hydrocarbon, thus treated is usually dark in color and due probably to the polymerized hydrocarbons formed by the action of the acid, its boiling range is increased so that it is necessary to redistill the gasoline,

which results in a product improved in color and other advantageous characteristics.

Another commercial method of treating gasoline and the like to remove color and gum forming compounds is to take the gasoline directly from storage and treat the same ata re-run still and to pass the resulting vapors through a bed of coarse fullers earth, or other' filtering mediums such as charcoal, bone ash, hydrous aluminum' silicate and the like, the reactions taking place in the hydrocarbons while the latter are in the vapor phase and in the presence of the fullers earth, to continually remove from the hydrocarbons the color and gum forming compounds, thus improving the inal product and rendering the same suitable for commercial purposes. The hydrocarbon vapor may bevled directly fromthe unit in which it is produced to the bed of coarse ullers earth or from storage as may be l RUDOLPH C. OSTERSTROM, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,:'ND RQBERT T. TUCKER, 0F MUSEO- GEE, OKLAHOMA, ASSIGNORS T@ THE PUR-E OI'GOMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINGIS, A

rnocnss or HEATING OIL 1928. `Serial No.

desired. In either case, when the earth is spent or exhausted of its purifying properties, it is necessary to lead the vapors to another treating unit containing a fresh bed of fullers earth, while the spent clay is being removed from the rst tower and a fresh bed of-clay or 'fullers earth .substituted in place thereof.

The present invention oers an improvement over the above commonl used methods in that a method is provi ed for securing a more intimate contact between the oil vapors and the fullers earth or other adsorbent, contact or filtering medium utilized, this desirable end being obtained by passing predetermined quantities of finely divided fullers earth, silica gel or the like' into contact with a flowing or moving body of the oil vapors so that complete and effective contact of a. greatly improved character can be obtained between the oil under treatment and the filtering or purifying agent, provision being made for controlling the time of reaction or contact and also for separating the purified lor rened hydrocarbon compounds from the treating agent.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a method of the above character for treating oil vapor for the purposes stated wherein the apparatus employed is of a simple character and considerably less costly than that employed in connection with comparable systems, and wherein the construc-- tion of the apparatus is such as well as the method of operation to allow a greater veo' slr

through-putof oil vapor than in other appa- A further ob'ect is to provide an improved process for re 'ing oils wherein the refining agent is thoroughly distributed throughv out all portions'of the oil vapor under treatment whereby the refining qualities of the treating materia-ls'are utilized to the maximum extent. Y .v

, A further obiect is to provide an improved process of refining oils 1n which the amount of oil which may be refined from a given amount of. the refining agent is increased l l materiall over priorvpractice; or, expressed in w igure 1'.;indicates diagrammatically the apparatus employed in carrying out the present inventlon, v

Fi re 2 is a detaileds view disclosing a modi ed method of introducing the treatin agent into the oil vapor line,

igure 3 is a similar view of a still further modified form of the invention, and

Figure l is a'view of a modified type of p 85 contact vessel.

,Referring more articularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 esignates a tank in which the asoline to be treated is stored. This gaso ine may have been previously treated by acid or any other conventional means or it may be untreated, such, for example, as when the oil vapors are taken directly from a converting unit.

. The gasoline or other low boiling hydro- 'carbon compound is withdrawn from the tank 1 by way of a pipe line and is forced by a pump 2 into theCre-run still 3. This still has been shown, for example, as consisting of rows of tubes heated by hot gases developed in the fire box 4, the hot gases passing out throu h the stack 5 after they have passed from t e oil heating tubes ranged 1n the furnace settin of the still. The gasoline on leaving t e re-run still has vbeen heated above its boiling) point and is in a vaporous state. It has een found that the desired temperature for treating varies from 400 to 650o Fah. depending on the composltion and boiling range of the materials being y handled.

At the heater outlet 6, or in the pipe line leading from such outlet, finely divided fullers earth, charcoal, bone"ash,acid treated clays, ksilica gel bentonite, diatomaceous earths or other filtering mediums, are introduced into the va or line as a finely divided body or powder rom. the clay line 7 a. The clay line consists of a hopper or magazine 7 ada ted to contain a suitable quantity of the fine y divided fullers earth, or other treatin medium. This earth is in a finer state of sudivision than is ordinarily employed in analogous refining operations, wherein a comparatively coarse grade of clay is utilined. It has been found that the present in- -vention operates to greater vadvanta e with the extremely finely divided materia s, than with the coarser materials, for reasons which will be apparent as the description proceeds. heading from the hopper or magazine is the pipe line 7 a,'in which is located a conveyor screw 7b, the latter bein driven by, for example, a variable Spee electric motor 7 c. When the motor- 7 c is in operation, the screw 7 b is rotated at a' predetermined rate of speed so as to discharge a predetermined quantity of the clay into the vapor line 6.

This operation may be accomplished in other waysand, for example, inI Figure 2 there has been shown a reservoir 7d ada ted to'contain a concentrated mixture of ful ers earth in water, gasoline or heavy oil, and a pump 8 is utilized to withdraw this mixture from the reservoir 7d and to discharge the same into the vapor pipe line 6. A third form of effecting the introduction of the treating material into engagement with the oil vapor is to provide the blow-case 7 e, illustrated in Figure 3, in which pressure is maintained by means of a compressor 19, so as to force the contact of treatin material into v the va or line 6, the outlet 0% the case being provi ed with a suitable valve for regulating the fiow of the treating materials, which latter'ma be in the form of a powder or a liquid. he methods of applying the treating agent above described may be used selectively or in combination, as desired.

After the treating agent has been added the mixture of gasoline vapors and treating agent are passed through vessels 9 formed to include contact chambers. One or more of such vessels may be utilized, the size and number depending on the amount of gasoline nl to be treated per unit of time and the amount 1 of the refining agent required. The contact chambers provided in the vessels 9 are formed to include conical tops and bottoms, so that the mixture of vapors and fullers earth will enter at the bottom' of each chamber and pass out at the top. It is in these chambers that the treating effect or action of the fullers earth is obtained. The natural tendency of the clay is to settle or fall and the force of the vapors passing through give a maximum amount of contact and treating efficiency, it being desirable to construct the chambers of such size that the ratio of fullers earth to gasoline vapors is much greater in these chambers than in the vapor line 9a leaving the chambers. These treating chambers are also built or made of such size and number that the desired time element will (be obtained, as the polymerization of the undesirable color and gum forming compounds, such as tertiary and diolenes, is a reaction requiring time for execution. It has been'found necessary in some cases to hold the time of contact as high as 60 minutes, while in other cases complete removal o f the undesirable 13 tact chambers and, therefore, insures complete vapor phase treatment.

After leaving the contact chambers'9 the mixture'of gasoline vapors and fullers earth passes into a separator 10 by way of the pipe.

line 9a provided with a valve 1'9. This sepa- A rator is in the form of an evaporator or tower,

wherein the clay is allowed to fall to the bottom of the separator and the vapors pass on out of the separator through its top. It is preferable to regulate the temperature .of the outlet of the separator at its to to mamtain such temperature constant, so t at the oil vapors will be fractionated yto the desired boiling range. Any automatic means for accomplishing this may be utilized. Suitable means can be provided for removing the spent clay from the bottom of the separator, such as a manheadJ 11, which can be placed on one s1de of the. separator or a mechanical means for continuous removal, such as the screw con-- veyor 11a. Y

While there has been specifically described a particular type of contact vessel 'which may be used in carrying out the lnvention, nevertheless it may be understood that other types of vessels may also be utilized. For example, as shown in Figure 4, pipe sections 19a may be employed, danged on both ends with er1- ce plate 10b inserted between each pipe/section. Again, the mixing may be secured by means of an ordinary cylinder with sufiicient obstructions in the `form of bathe plates or similar devices placed in the cylinder so that a violent swirling action will taire place, pro-l viding the contact which is desu-ed.

The polymer fraction that has been formed in the contact vessels and which has a higher boiling range than the desired gasoline, condenses and becomes a liquid at the tempera# ture which is maintained in the separator 10, and this condensate drops to the bottom of the separator with the clay. rlhe clay-poly merized hydrocarbon mixture is then allowed to drop out of the bottom of the separatorby opening a valve 13, the extent of the opening determining the rapidity of the removal of the liquid clay mixture. Passing through this valve the mixture might .be further cooled by a coil 14, which opens into a sump 15. This Sump is a tank with a pitched bottom, almost completely filled .with water.' On being released into Athis water, the clay and heavy tarry matter settle to the bottom,

while the lighter fractions of the oil entrained with the clay rise to the top of the water', where such lighter fractions can be continually removed by overflowing through the pipe line l18 into storage, or may be pumped from the-top of the water surface. The clay and hea tar mixture is removed from the bottom o the sump 15 by means of a pump probably of the sandhog variety, and directed to any desired point. The vapors removed from the top." of the separator, as treated gasoline, are cooled by means of a coil 16 and then directed to a storage tank 17.

The system operates substantially at atmospheric pressure throughout.

The finished gasolinas froml the above process are ofl good color, odor and of low gum content, but in some cases in order to get a finished product, sweet to the doctor test, this hasbecn accomplished by the addition of a. small amount of lead oxide to the fullers earth in the hoppers or magazines 7,

the mixture being fed into the vapor line 6. The amount of lead oxide required varies fromOrOO to 0.04 percent by weight of gasoline treated. The action of the lead oxide removes most of the sulfur and mercaptans contained in gasoline by the formation of lead sulphide, the latter being removed along with the clay. i

Advantages of the above method are manifold. First, the system allows the use of a very hnely ground fullers earth, which has [the advantage of greater surface area over the coarser grades of clay which are used in percolation methods 'the polymerizing or decolorizing action ofthe earth being dependent upon this surface area. Due to the greater increase in surface area of the finer clay and its increased eiliciency there is a saving in the amount of clay required to obtain a certain .color over the coarser clays per unit amount of gasoline treated. Further, 'by treating' in the vapor phase an increased eciency is obtained over treating in the liquid phase, which is also'a factor in reducing the amount of treating agent required. ln other words, the above process allows the use of a clay in such form that its greatest efficiency is obtained, and at the same time applying the clay on gasoline which is in such a condition that it is most easily affected by the treating agent.

Another advantage` of the above method is that all of the gasoline is treated to a uniform color, and is not a mixture of low and high color products, such as is obtained by percolating the vapors through a stationary bed of l clay. A Vfurther feature of the invention is the continuous removal of the spent clay from the separating zone and in so regulating the operation of the process that b the time all the clay-polymerized hydrocar on is treated in the zone where separation of the clay takes place, the clay is in a spent condition. This feature permits of the use of a means for continuous removal of the spent clay, making the clay treating process a continuous operation instead of a batch operation, as heretofore. Still, another advantage is that this method permits of a continuous introduction of lead oxide or other chemical so that the final product obtained will be negatlve to a doctor test reaction, giving a sweet, stable product at the same time that it is bein de- 5 colorized and the undesirable hydrocar ons are being polymerized.

What 1s claimed is 1. The method of removing gum forming and color imparting bodies from-petroleum' lo products containing unsaturated compounds which comprises introducing 4comminuted solid adsorptive material into a iowing stream of such products in vapor phase, causing the treating material to remain sus ended in the vapor for a sufiicient length o time to exert the desired e'ect, subse uently directing the vapor stream upwar y and directing a stream of liquid hydrocarbons counter-current to the vapor stream to effect reor stream substantially upwardly and pass-V mg liquid hydrocarbons counter-current to the vapor stream when its flow is so retarded to effect removal of high boiling constituentstoglether with polymers and adsorptive mate- 3. The continuous method of degumming cracked hydrocarbon oils with adsorptive material which comprises heatin a confined stream composed solely of the o1l.to be treated to vaporizing temperature to convert such oil to vapor, introducing into the stream of vapor finely divided solid adsorptive materia maintaining the Vapor and adsorptive material in intimate contact for sufiicient time Fto exert the desired effect, subsequently di recting the vapor stream upwardly and directing a stream of liquid hydrocarbons counter-current to the vapor stream to effect removal of high boiling constituents, together with polymers and adsorptive material.

4. The continuous method of yremoving p `gumforming and color-imparting lbodies rom cracked hydrocarbon oils withv adsorptive material which comprises heating a confined stream composed solely of the oil .to be treated to vaporizing temperature to convert such oil to vapor, introducing into the stream of vapor finely divided solidadsorptive material, maintaining the vapor and adsorptive material in intimate contact for sufiicient time to exert the desired eiect, subsequently .re.L

tarding the rate of flow of the vapor vstream to I eect separation therefrom of polymers and adsorptive material, directly the vapor stream upwardly and directing a stream of liquid hydrocarbons counter-'current to the vapor stream to efiect removal of high boilin constituents together with polymers and a sorptive material.

5. The method of removing gum-forming compounds from cracked petroleum oils containing unsaturated compounds, which comprises passing a confined flow stream composed of such oils at a tem erature sufciently high to maintain the oi substantially in the va or phase but without appreciable cracking t ereof together with a comminuted solid adsorptive material suspended `in the oil vapor through an elongated treating zone retaining the flowing stream of mixed oi vapor and adsorptive material in said treating zone for a sufficient length of time to' polymerize gum-forming constituents pres ent in said oil vapors, subsequently retarding. -1

the rate of flow of the vapor stream to effect separation therefromv of polymers and adsorptive material While: directing the vapor stream substantially upwardly, and passingu liquid hydrocarbons in countercurrent flow relative to the va or stream when its flow is so retarded to e ect removal of high boil-4 constituents together with polymers and Y in adgsorptive materia 6. The continuous method fof removing-f gum-forming and color-imparting bodies f from cracked petroleum oils containin unsaturated compounds, whichy comprises eating such oils While the latter are passing in a confined continuously fiowing yelongated stream of'restrictedv cross sectional area to temperatures sufiiciently high to'efect substantially complete va ori'zation ofthe oils without material crac ing thereof, discontinuing the heatin of the oils after the latter attain the desire temperaturesl and vapor state and without interrupting the flow thereof passing thesame throu h an elongated treating zone of restricts cross sectional area, introducing into the vapor stream passlng through said treating zone a comminuted solid adsorptive material and causing the treating material to remain suspended in the vapor stream for a suflicient length of time to exert the desired effect, subsequently retardin the rate offiow of the vapor stream to e ect separation therefrom of polymers and adsorptive material While directing the vapor stream substantially upwardly, and passing liquid hydrocarbons counter-current to the vapor stream while its fiow is so retarded to effect removal of high boilingy constituents together with polymers and adsorptive material. v

7 The method of removing gum-forming and color-imparting bodiesl from cracked petroleum oils containing unsaturated compounds, which comprises heating such oils while the latter are passing in a coniined continuously owing elongated stream of restricted cross sectional area to temperatures above those necessaryto vaporize the oils but insuicient to eliect any substantial cracking thereof, discontinuing the heating of the oils after the latter` reach the desired temperature and state of vapor and passin the same continuousl throu h an elongate treatin zone, intro ucing into the stream of suc vaporized oils during passage thereof through the treating zone regulated quantities of a comminuted solid adsorptive treating material, said treating material being suspended in said vapors and carried thereby through the treating zone, producing intimate contact between the vaporized oils and treatin material during passage thereof throng the treating zone while maintaining their sustained iiow by repeated expanding and contracting of the cross sectional area of said stream, subsequently retarding the rate of ow of the vapor stream to effect separation therefrom of polymers and adsorptive material, directing the vapor stream substantially upwardly and directing a stream of liquid hydrocarbons counter-current to the upwardly moving vapors to eect removal of high boiling constituents present therein together with polymers and adsorptive material.

In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures.

RUDOLPH C. OSTERSTROM. ROBERT T. TUCKER. 

